Subject: Re: History of Ketchup

From: Gretchen Miller <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 1994 11:47:59 -0500

Just to chime in and provide an unhistoric recipe, here's what the 1966
edition of the Family Circle Encyclopedia of Cookery has to say about
ketchup:

This highly seasoned, thick condiment sause is also called catchup or
catsup.  These two words derive from colloquial pronunciations of the
real name, which comes from a Malay word kechap for spiced fish sauce.

Ketchup is a smoothly textured and brightly colored sauce, usually made
with red-tomato pulp.  It can also be made from green tomatoes, fruits,
berries, vegetables, and even seafood.

Originally, ketchup meant a sauce in which the important ingredient was
salted spiced mushrooms.  In Great Britian, mushroom ketchup has been
known for centuries and it is still widely used.

The listing includes recipes for tomoto, mushroom, apple, and grape
ketchups.  Here's the mushroom ketchup:
4 lbs mushrooms
1 to 2 tsp course salt
1 cup vinegar
1 medium onion
1 garlic clove
1 tsp mixed pickling spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Remove stems and peel mushrooms.  Sprinkle undersides with salt, and let
stand for 1 hour.  Wipe with a paper towel.  Wash stems and put stems
and mushrooms in bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and let stand in cool place
for 3 days, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon.  Put in keetle and
add remaining ingredients.  Simmer, covered, for about 1 hour, adding a
little water or vinegar if needed.  Strain and put in hot sterilized
bottles with screw tops. Fassten corks loosely and stand bottles in pan
of water reaching to tops of bottles.  Bring slowly to boil and keep at
this temperature for 20 minutes.  Remove from water, insert corks, and
screw on caps.  Makes about 4 cups.

toodles, gretchen

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